Roundup: ValleyCats' streak at nine

Jobie Morales homered and the Tri-City ValleyCats again rode strong pitching to victory Sunday night, downing the Lowell Spinners 6-3 for the their ninth straight victory.

The 11-3 ValleyCats maintained their two-game lead in the New York-Pennsylvania League's Stedler Division.

ValleyCats manager Stubby Clapp was ejected by base umpire Jorge Teran in the seventh inning after Neiko Johnson was picked off second base following his leadoff double.

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Spinners catcher Oscar Perez fired a strike down to shortstop Mookie Betts, who tagged out Johnson - according to Teran.

Clapp argued loudly and persistently and was thumbed.

Like a championship-caliber team, the ValleyCats rallied after that play, taking advantage of some shoddy Lowell fielding.

Andrew Aplin drew a walk, stole second and scored when Dan Gulbransen's grounder was booted by first baseman Nathan Minnich.

The ValleyCats had broken a 2-2 tie with two runs in the sixth inning, again with the help of a crucial error, as Jesse Wierzbicki reached on Betts' throwing error with one out in the inning.

Catfish Dineen singled and Morales followed with a solid single to right field, scoring Wierzbicki. Dineen was thrown out at third base by right fielder Kendrick Perkins on the play but after a walk, Joe Sclafani singled home Morales for a 4-2 lead.

The ValleyCats added an insurance run in the eighth when singled and scored on Elkins' double.

ValleyCats starter Aaron West pitched allowed six hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Winning pitcher Jeremiah Weiners (2-2) went 2 1/3, allowing one run on three hits and short relievers Kenny Long and Blake Ford each hurled a scoreless inning, Ford earning his fifth save.

The four 'Cats pitchers combined to strike out 13 and walk none.

The torrid-hitting Aplin boomed a triple in the first inning and scored on a two-out single by Gulbransen. Aplin is hitting .444 (20-for-45), Elkins .373 and Gulbransen .351.

Morales gave the ValleyCats a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, slamming his third home run of the season over the fence in right field.

Perkins homered off West in the second inning, his fourth of the season, and gained a 2-2 tie in the fourth when Perkins singled, stole second and scored on Betts' single to center.

The two teams meet again tonight and Tuesday night, then the ValleyCats return home at 5 p.m. Wednesday against the State College Spikes.

Mickey Mantle

South Troy 11, Schenectady 0: Kevin Smith belted a two-run double and John Barnes went 2-for-2 to back the two-hit pitching of Connor Center.

Center finished with 11 strikeouts for the Dodgers (24-1).

Lansingburgh 10, Amsterdam 0: Trevor Francesconi fired a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts and helped his own cause with a double to lead the Royals (10-5) Sunday morning.

Nick Lewis added a two-run homer to the Royals' attack. Edwin Gerena had a three-run double and Connor McDonough and Jack Engster an RBI single apiece.

Lansingburgh 12, Bethlehem 2: Connor McDonough collected three singles and knocked in four runs as the Royals defeated the Braves on Saturday.

Jack Engster had three singles and two RBI for Lansingburgh. Nick Lewis contributed three singles and two RBI and Trevor Francesconi tripled.

Max Tessitore was the winning pitcher.

From Saturday

Little League

Lansingburgh 10, Twin Town 9: Charlie Finning's base hit drove home Devon Ratigan with the game-winning run for Lansingburgh, in a 10-9 victory over Twin Town, in a District 14 11-12-year-old 'A' tournament game on Saturday evening.

Ratigan finished with two hits for Lansingburgh, while Russ Cooper added two doubles and three RBI and Evan Ryan added two hits and two RBI.

Dylan Burns led Twin Town with two hits and four RBI, while Alex Steyezynski added two hits and two RBI and Brad Kenneally drove in three runs.

Alex White also tripled and drove in a run for Twin Town.

Adult Amateur Football

Troy Fighting Irish 42, Glove-Cities 6: The Irish won the battle of the league's only two unbeaten teams, improving to a perfect 4-0 in the process. Lansingburgh native Kenny Youngs accumulated over 100 yards rushing to lead the Irish, who held a slim 14-6 edge at the half.

Chris Williams returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown in the second half to pace the Troy defense.

Mickey Mantle

South Troy 7, Clifton Park 0: Tyler Childrose and Kevin Smith combined to throw a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts to lead the Dodgers to their 16th straight Upper NY Empire League victory over Clifton Park Team #2 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.

Ryan Fuentes finished with two singles, while Kevin Napier drove in a run on a double for South Troy (16-0, 23-1).